High 3 · Reading series
Lesson 29 · The Electricity on a Cloudy Day
Audio track 29
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
Our school installed a small solar display beside the science room. On sunny days, its numbers rose quickly. During a week of clouds, a classmate announced that the panels were “not working.” We checked the display and found that it still recorded electricity, though less than on clear afternoons.
With our teacher, we compared readings taken at similar times and noted cloud cover. We also learned that the classroom's total electricity use was a separate number. The display could show what the panels produced, not whether the whole building could operate on them alone.
For our presentation, we drew two lines: production and demand. They changed differently through the day. We avoided promising that the panels would supply every need, and we did not call a cloudy day a failure. Instead, we asked what other sources and storage choices the school used.
The display had first looked like a score. Read beside demand and weather, it became a way to understand how a useful technology fits into a larger system.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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Our school installed a small solar display beside the science room.
-
On sunny days, its numbers rose quickly.
-
During a week of clouds, a classmate announced that the panels were “not working.”
-
We checked the display and found that it still recorded electricity, though less than on clear afternoons.
-
With our teacher, we compared readings taken at similar times and noted cloud cover.
-
We also learned that the classroom's total electricity use was a separate number.
-
The display could show what the panels produced, not whether the whole building could operate on them alone.
-
For our presentation, we drew two lines: production and demand.
-
They changed differently through the day.
-
We avoided promising that the panels would supply every need, and we did not call a cloudy day a failure.
-
Instead, we asked what other sources and storage choices the school used.
-
The display had first looked like a score.
-
Read beside demand and weather, it became a way to understand how a useful technology fits into a larger system.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
学校在科学教室旁装了一块小型太阳能显示屏。晴天，数字很快上升。接连一周多云，有位同学说太阳能板“没在工作”。我们看了显示屏，发现它仍记录到电量，只是比晴朗的下午少。
在老师指导下，我们比较相近时间的读数，也记下云量。我们还了解到，教室总用电量是另一个数字。显示屏能告诉我们太阳能板生产了多少电，却不能单独说明整栋楼能否只靠它供电。
做介绍时，我们画出两条线：发电量和用电需求。一天之中，它们变化的方式不同。我们没有承诺太阳能板能满足所有需求，也没有把阴天说成失败；我们转而询问学校还使用什么电源和储能方式。
起初，显示屏像一个分数牌。把它与需求和天气放在一起看，它才成为理解一项实用技术如何融入更大系统的工具。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- solar
- 太阳能的；学校安装展示设备。
- panels
- 太阳能板；多云时仍能发电。
- electricity
- 电力；显示屏记录产量。
- readings
- 读数；应比较相近时刻。
- cloud cover
- 云量；影响发电条件。
- produced
- 生产；与用电量不是一回事。
- demand
- 需求；画出第二条线。
- supply
- 供应；不能承诺满足全部。
- storage
- 储存；还需考虑储能方式。
- system
- 系统；发电设备只是其中一环。
Background notes (Chinese)
阴天发电减少并不等于设备故障；判断能源作用还需比较用电需求及其他供电来源。